The Austin A40 may not be well known outside UK, if indeed it is known at all in many areas. However, the lack of sufficient product investment in the UK industry from 1945 to the late 1990s will be a familiar tale.

The A40 was introduced in 1958; the car on the left (BFP108) in the picture above is a Mk2 from 1961; the car on the right (SRR960G) is a Mk2 from 1968, making it one of the last of the line……

Apart from the grey wheels instead of white and the rectangular rear number plate, any change is so effectively hidden to be non-existent. Even given the longer model cycles of that period, eight years and that level of change (or not) is striking.

Yes, that is a drop down lid to the boot (trunk), Mini style.

There was also a version, known as the Countryman, with a lift up rear window and drop down lid to make something not far off a modern hatchback concept, back in 1959. Styling was by Farina, the first of many for BMC

But don’t tell anyone it was an Austin A30 underneath, dating back to 1952.

Like I said, the British motor industry did not invest sufficiently in product, and that is why we now have a motor industry in Britain instead.

Well, BMC and the Rootes Group’s financial problems, at any rate. The medium-size firms — Rover, Standard-Triumph, Jaguar — were not doing that badly at least until ’68. They had their lurching moments (which is why Standard ended up merging with Leyland in 1960), but generally speaking, they were in decent shape in terms of both cash and products. Between 1960 and 1969, for instance, Jaguar launched three radically new products (the E-Type, the Mark X, and the XJ6) and several logical extensions of same (the S-Type was essentially a Mark 2 with the Mark X suspension).

Leyland pioneered the idea of turning storied brands into FWD crap nobody wanted and fell into the uk Govts arms then bankruptcy. Exactly the same path GM followed for the same result. In the 50s a Wolseley came with a traditional OHC l6 engine in the 60s it was a rebadged Austin same with Riley no more high mount twin cam engines it became a rebadged Austin and no more customers came in for them GM turned everything into a shitbox Chevrolet with similar results.

Well, pre-merger Leyland wasn’t doing badly with Standard-Triumph and probably would have done all right after adding Rover in ’67 (although the idea of replacing the 2000 and the P6 with a single model was foolish), but they inherited BMC, which despite changes of ownership and organization never came close to overcoming its basic problems.

Nar Eric the Metropolitan had a A50 1500cc engine these Austin A40 used Morris minor powertrains of 1000cc, I owned a 59 & 64 so am quite familiar with them, My 59 had a worked 1100 engine ported head bigger carb headers etc and could hold 85mph on flat going fun little car to drive but very noisy and my one did not have the lift up rear window only the later one had that. Very rare cars in NZ rough treatment on bad roads has killed most of them both mine ended in the scrapyard due to hard use

No for the first 2 series of Metropolitan had the 1200cc engines from the A40 in the US. The Series III and IV switched to the 1500cc A50 and A55 engine that coincidentally was used in the US in another Metro, the IH Metro-Mite.

Sorry Eric I’ll explain the A40 Austin that supplied the Metropolitan powertrain began like as the A40 Devon and Sommerset and was designated the BMC B series engine family it grew to 1500cc then to 1622 for installation in the Cambridge/Oxford twins and the Metro.

This A40 used the A series engine originally from the A30 and A35 series austins, That ohv engine in 803cc form was used in the Morris Minor in 52 and though more modern than the prewar flat head Morris Engine it replaced it was shit and ate bigend bearings at 10,000 mile intervals if you thrashed one which you had to or you were stuck behind other junk like VWs and sidevalve prefects on hills.
this engine grew to 1275 in the BMC range but it was not the same engine as the metropolitan despite outward appearances.That engine was also built by Datsun in 1500cc form during the 70s and commenters on here have praised it when installed in Datsun pickups. Datsun ohv engines bolt right into Morris minors and their whanau even head gaskets interchange they are the same so please dont rubbish all the pommy stuff you guys actually love with Japanese badging.

Saying the A40 used 1952 technology isn’t exactly true. These things actually used MECHANICAL rear brakes until 1962. I don’t think any US cars used mechanical brakes since the mid-30s. The A40, and to a lesser extent the bigger Farinas were old fashioned when launched. These made Ford 100e’s look high tech. Their only saving grace was the very lovely A-series engine, one of the 10 best engines ever.

Yet, when BMC went high tech, they didn’t do it well either. Minis and 1100’s had scant profit margins, so for each of these sold, the company went further and further into the red. BLMC was formed to rescue BMC, which was the largest portion of the UK motor industry. Unfortunately, many of the ‘good’ parts of the company, such as Rover, Jaguar and Triumph, made products in the same class and only stole sales from each other, producing a zero-sum-gain. Both Rover and Triumph made a 2-litre ‘junior executive’ car within a few quid of each other, and likewise, Jaguar MkX’s were competing with Rover p5’s.

There were a lot of these about when I was a kid in the 60s and even later.My Aunt Rose had a maroon one which was gleaming.It was very staid and old fashioned next to a Vauxhall Viva or Ford Anglia/Escort,I’d no idea it was still around in 68.The headlong rush into FWD was one of the nails in the British Leyland coffin.

They wiped them out in the UK too,my ex BIL bought a Marina within 5 years it was scrapped due to severe rust.Curiously I only remember one other problem he had with the car being a leaking brake caliper.I think the Marina was the most scrapped car in Britain with the handful of survivors being a tiny percentage of those built.The Aussies got a 6 pot Marina which sounded interesting on paper,perhaps Bryce can enlighten us more about this?

If you like lots of tyre smoke and understeer a 262 Marina is right up your street. Gem, take a stock Marina triple the engine weight its used in 6 cylinder Rover, yes the really crap engine that one is from Australia and fits in a Marina they were awful just like the P76 it was harvested from.

Gem Whitman

Posted July 18, 2013 at 1:54 AM

Oh dear,Australian Leyland made duds as bad as British Leyland’s abominations just as I suspected.Thanks Bryce glad we never got that one!

The Countryman version is sweet, never knew this car existed. Does it have any relation to the earlier (several) models that were called “A40” (Devon, Cambridge, etc.) ? I could never really wrap my head around BMC’s hybrid model/alphanumeric code nomenclature.

I worked during the last of the “golden” years of the airline industry in the United States, and watched this death spiral many times. One-time industry leaders like PanAm and TWA lost their focus and once revenues declined, could no longer invest in the the technologies that made their competitors more attractive and efficient, resulting in further revenue decline, which resulted in less ability to keep up, and you know how this ends.

A blue A40 with a black roof was the first car I ever “drove”. Climbed in, aged about 4, released the handbrake and drifted backwards down the steep drive and into the middle of the road. Good thing suburban streets were quiet and not choked with parked cars, otherwise the outcome may have been a whole lot more interesting.

These were simply killed by the MINI, from the same group.
The MINI was cheaper, better and the variety of models was much bigger.
And whom, except an old age pensioner wanted to be seen driving this, while you could have a Mini?
LIke many other car makers, BMC did not understand what to do with the “three door model ”
Unlike Renault, who really did.
And made the hatchback a commercial success.
Actually a world wide success.

Not to commercial users our Post office continued to buy Morris minor Vans until production ended in 75 for delivery work minis were tried once and the repair costs were to high. The mini fun though it could be was rubbish in constant use as a van it was crap and broke down continuously and the drivers refused to drive them they were so bad Alec Issigonis saved BMC with his Morris minor and the spinoffs it created and he bankrupted BLMC with his FWD stupidity because it wasnt reliable BMC lost all the lucrative govt supply contracts they had all over the world no fleet buyer would touch BLMC by 1970 triumph and Rover still made competent cars but everything else was a rebadged FWD POS. GM echoed this downward trajectory.

OK so the A40 was never going to set the world alight, even at the end of the fifties, but I disagree with Roger’s premise here that the lack of planned obselecence is (even part of) what killed the British motor industry.

Even without citing the obvious (*cough* VW *cough) it’s a blunt fact that – outside the US – a great many successful C20th models ran largely unchanged for years. Some still do.

Taking decades to settle on designs for new models, canibalising their own market with massive internal competition, and (above all) producing poor quality cars due to a toxic blend of out of touch management and disgruntled bolshy factory staff. All these are legit reasons for the failure of the British car industry. Failure to slap new grilles and chrome gimmicks on their cars every other year isn’t. IMO.

This is such a complicated saga. You had dealerships that only sold Morris (and related brands, like Wolseley), dealerships that only sold Austin (and related brands, like Vanden Plas), all fighting against each other for product until the penny dropped and they started importing Datsuns instead.

And you had the extraordinary reluctance of the management to back its new product lines, and kill the old ones. Perhaps – bankrupt of scruples as well as management capability – they recognised the shortcomings in new models, and kept the old ones going alongside. But the Morris Minor should have been superceded by the A40, which should have been superceded by the 1100/1300, which should have been superceded by something more desirable than the Allegro. Running the A35 alongside the Minor, the Riley One Point Five and Wolseley 1500 to 1965, keeping the Farina Oxford/Cambridge etc going alongside the 1800, failing to replace the Maxi with a hatchback 18/22 (Princess) – with BMC/BLMC, the deadly sins just kept on coming, right until the end (failing to brand the CityRover as an Austin and selling it for £4995, instead of trying to mulct the customers one last time).

As it was my first driver (see above) I have some residual fondness for the A40. It was a basic car, but it looked pretty sharp in 1958, and could have led the way with a hatchback revolution.

No company – sorry, GMers – blew so many chances so thoroughly as BMC/BLMC. Though this makes it the most fascinating of sagas to read about, Lord, Harriman and Stokes have a lot to answer for.

Next season of Downton Abbey to feature an accident-prone nobleman called Lord Harriman Stokes. Keeps breaking things, is reliant on his government annuity. Has a chippy colonial valet called Edwardes, who is smarter than his master.